Jean Loftus
A HUGE THANK YOU FROM GIZMO
Firstly, I must apologise to my sponsors for the lateness of my Summer newsletter but, as I am sure you will understand, I have had to totally devote my time to looking after my human family. I promise to put paw to paper to finish it very soon.
On behalf of my Mum and Dad, we just wanted to say a huge thank you to the people at IRR for their kind message on the website and to everyone who has sent cards and special mails. All are very much appreciated and help a lot.
We thought you would like to see part of our Nanny’s Order of Service which shows her in her younger days and is a precis of her long and happy life.
We are sure she is flying with the angels now and is at Rainbow Bridge having been reunited with the many animal friends that she loved so much.
GOODBYE NANNY
12.7.1922 – 20.8.2012
Jean was born on 12th July 1922 to Gladys and Jack Clarke in Bridgwater, Somerset.
She had two slightly older siblings Betty and Reggie Rex, both of whom are, sadly, also deceased. With the passing of Jean, the older generation of the family are now Betty’s daughters – Monica and Vanessa and Reggie’s children – Christina, Johnny, Mandy and Suzy and, of course, Jean’s daughter Pauline.
Jean had a very happy childhood. She excelled at swimming, enjoyed playing her piano accordion and loved to dance, something which was definitely “in the blood” as her Mum was a teacher of dance and pianoforte.
Unfortunately, war came when Jean was only 17 years old but she “did her bit” by working in the munitions factory at ROF, Puriton. Post-war, she worked as a receptionist and typist and later as an electronic assembler. She worked hard and was always highly thought of by her employers.
She became Jean Loftus after the war but the marriage didn’t
work out and it was something she never talked about. She idolised her baby daughter, Pauline, born in 1948 and she spent her life doing everything she could to ensure that her only child would want for nothing.
Jean was something of a sun worshipper and really enjoyed her holidays abroad especially to Spain and Italy although she also visited countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. She loved to collect souvenirs of her trips and she also amassed a huge collection of cuddly toys.
She was drawn back to dancing again, taking medals in Ballroom and Latin American and one of her great pleasures in later years was taking the money for the classes at the Bath Dancentre…….her Tuesday night outing.
Jean loved clothes so she was always smartly dressed and she loved to be adorned with her rings and bracelets of which she could never have enough. She had always looked very young for her age and was extremely young at heart so being 90 years was not something she relished. She also very much missed her sister and lost a lot of interest in life when she passed.
Although she loved her family, Jean was a very private lady and talked very little about herself. She always preferred to talk about Pauline and the dogs and what was happening in the soaps, most of which she had avidly watched for many years.
Despite not having a pet of her own after losing Tippy Too, she adored all Pauline’s cats and dogs and spent many years “riding shotgun” and travelling miles and miles around the country, first going along with Pauline to the doggy competitions from Scotland to Cornwall and, later, as a companion during the transportation of countless rescue dogs from Ireland to a better life in the UK.
She loved her home and was extremely happy there for 30 years so the thought that she would not be well enough to return was more than she could bear.
She “didn’t want to be a burden” to Pauline and Steve and seemed to make up her mind that it was her time to go so, after a brief stay in the RUH, Jean slipped away peacefully at 11am on Monday 20th August 2012 clutching one of her beloved teddies and with Pauline holding her hand.
Friends and relatives of Jean have very generously donated £430 to Irish Retriever Rescue in her memory.